


Omega

by My_Marvel_Musings



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Explicit Language, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-05 13:50:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16368776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Marvel_Musings/pseuds/My_Marvel_Musings
Summary: Reader is the cousin of Tony Stark. She has a PhD in botany and human biology, is a medical doctor, a scientist at the Avengers’ Compound, and an omega-level mutant. The only thing is no one but her cousin knows that last part.Everything is fine until the government wants to hunt down all omega-level mutants for safety reasons. And reader makes the mistake falling for one of the government agents.*It has come to my attention that there is a writing trope on AO3 that is called alpha/beta/omega. This has NOTHING to do with that. Omega refers to a power level in mutants; it’s stated in the comics. Just don’t want any disappointed readers.*





	1. La Familia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader gloats over winning a bet against her cousin, Tony Stark. Tony expresses concern over Reader’s mutations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to comment below to make requests or follow me on Tumblr: @my-marvel-musings

“You’re not allowed to bitch and moan, Stark! You lost fair and square.” An evil smile covered your face as you had FRIDAY reprogram the music for the day. “Not that I don’t like AC/DC, but now it's time whole week of any other band I choose. Those were the terms!”

‘Living on the Edge’ by Aerosmith began to blast over the speakers. In the corner of the lab, Bruce had a smile creep across his mouth. Tony tried to glare at him, but his science bro was too busy going over some numbers on a piece of paper.

“But why this week? Why not next week, or your birthday week, or never? In fact, never would be just perfect.” Tony had a package of blueberries in his hands and was popping one in at the end of each sentence.

“Because I said so!” You stuck your tongue out at your cousin and stole a blueberry. “Listen, there’s a great way to avoid this in the future: stop placing bets with me.”

“I still think you cheated.” He whined, narrowing his eyes at you.

“How in the hell it is possible to cheat at growing a flower? Maybe you just have a black thumb?” You smirked in his direction.

He spared a glance at the other person in the lab and switched to speaking Dothraki. You had grown up speaking Russian to each other thanks to Tony’s nanny, but once you joined the team that killed any possibility of private conversations without leaving the room thanks to Nat and Bucky. So you turned to languages made for tv and movies. However, it was only a matter of time before Natasha learned them too.

“You know damn well how you cheated.” He whispered the accusation at you.

You responded in kind. “In case you forgot, dear cousin, you picked the damn event. AND the judge, your science bro. If you wanted to win so badly, you should have picked an event you have a PhD in.”

“Like that had anything to do with how you won. You’re supposed to stay hidden!” 

“And I am! Like anyone would ever think a mutant would go work for the Avengers when the X-Men are literally in the same state. My background is so off the grid, not even Fury knew I existed until 3 years ago.” You grabbed Tony’s chin in one hand and squeezed, smiling at how his cheeks smooshed inwards. You then switched back to English. “It’s so cute how you worry!”

He pulled his face away. “Don’t patronize me! I'm like 15 years older than you."

“Yes, Dad.” You stuck your tongue out at him and then went to work with Bruce.

“Man, I thought working with one Stark was bad enough.”

“I’m not a Stark.” You finished uploading your list of bands for the week to FRIDAY.

Tony rolled his eyes. “Bring down the drama, Jon Snow.”

“Well I’m not! Not technically anyway as I was the daughter of Howard’s sister.” You began to pull up your latest experiment on the screens in front of you. “And look who’s taking when it comes to drama, Tyrion.”

“Hey, Cap and I worked out our issues.”

“Yeah, after he realized how wrong he was and you agreed to help adjust the Accords. Though your issues started long before then.”

“Not my fault Dad loved Cap more than me.”

“I was referring to Ultron, but sure. We can go down that path.”

“Ultron was a great idea. The execution was just shit.”

“That’s an understatement, to say the least. Look, I really need to finish this experiment or we’ll never get anywhere on whether or not these plants can be changed to grow in the desert. In case you forgot, the more farm lands we create, the easier it will be to feed people all over the world.”

Tony looked over at you and this time spoke in elvish, “You could make that happen, if you really wanted to.”

“Not if I want to remain hidden. It’s hard enough trying to reverse global warming undetected.”

Tony shook his head and went to the other side of the lab. Bruce spoke up again, but in a quieter tone. “Not that it isn’t great to have you working here, but why are you here? You have a PhD in botany and human biology, not to mention you’re an actual medical doctor. You could be the head of the Mayo Clinic or a professor at Harvard or Yale.”

“Asks the man who has seven PhDs himself and is also living in this three-ring circus.”

“Not the same. The other guy makes it hard to be the lead of anywhere but maybe here.” He glanced over at you. “Be thankful you don’t know what that’s like.”

You closed your eyes for a moment. “We all have monsters in our closet, Bruce.”

“I think the word is skeletons.”

“Not in this facility.” You look over at your colleague. “Nothing about my past--or me--is that simple. But Tony has been the brother I never had. He needed me here and that’s all I need.”

“You act like you have your own inner monster waiting to bust out.”

“Maybe I do.” Bruce looked at you, startled. “Or maybe I have a flare for the dramatics like my cousin.”

He laughed at this and missed the sad look in your eyes. Turning back to the screens, you take a deep breath and stand up. "I think I'll head out to the green house and check up on my plants."

Bruce just nodded his head as you walked out the lab, but Tony frowned in your direction before going over to speak with Bruce.

The green house was peacefully quiet as always. Though maybe green house wasn’t the right term for the building you occupied on a nearly daily basis. The ceiling was angled and glass, but the walls were concrete to keep out prying eyes. You also had security cameras at every door with a monitor inside the building along with a facial recognition scanner. The whole building had been a gift from Tony when you joined the team.

You were supposed to mainly use it for your experiments, so you could have silence when necessary. But in reality the building was there so you could use your powers without fear of getting caught. Though, not every power could even be used inside the building. So there were times you tested fate by bringing rain early to the compound or even delaying snow by a week or two. It irritated Tony to no end, who only wanted you to be safe.

As if you summoned a demon, Tony walked through the door at that moment. Only you and he had full access to the greenhouse at all times. “What do you think you were doing in there?”

“You need to be more specific, Tony. I’ve done quite a few things inside the compound today.” You were currently bent over a cactus, probing the roots with your fingers so you could break down what cells were needed for the new plants.

“I’m talking about that comment you made to Bruce about having a monster in your closet! Are you crazy?”

“THAT’S what you’re all huffy about right now? That I made a joke to your science bro?” You looked up and cocked an eyebrow. “C’mon, you can’t possibly think he took me seriously.”

“He did enough to ask me about it!” Tony threw his hands up.

“Wait, what?” You straightened up at this and faced your cousin. “What do you mean he questioned you about it?”

“I mean I was talking to him after you left and he asked why you even bothered to work here. He said besides being the staff doctor, there wasn’t a point and as the doc here, you were over qualified.”

“What did you tell him?”

“Same as you, apparently. That you were here for me. He still thought it was really strange. He then mentioned how you feel everyone in the compound has monsters in their closet instead of skeletons.”

“Because we do. That’s not exactly a ground breaking revelation.”

“Bruce was under the impression you had a monster like him.”

“Well, I guess in a way I do," you mumbled, "Or rather, I am that monster 24/7.” You looked up from your cactus, turning your head in shame.

Tony came over and put his hand on your shoulder, giving you a light squeeze. “Look, kid. You’re not a monster. You’re just... too damn powerful for your own good.”

You gave him a crooked smile. “At least I’m not the strongest omega out there. Things could be worse: I could be a living beacon for the phoenix force.”

“You’re still pretty strong, Mother Nature. Controlling weather as well as Ororo does, controlling the elements without limits, super strength and speed, enhanced senses, flight... all you need is the ability to control animals and heal and you could be like a goddess.”

“Better calm down there, Stark, or I’ll end up with an ego as big as yours.” You sighed and dropped back into your chair. “I’m sick of hiding. Why do I have to do it? I mean, the X-Men have three omegas on their team. Why can’t yours have one?”

“You know why. SHIELD _and_ Hydra would immediately start fighting over you.”

You tilted your head to one side. “And suddenly, what? I become a damsel in distress? A mutant that literally has no limit to her powers? Because two spy agencies would start a slap fight over me? You do realize how absurd that sounds, right?”

“I just want you to be safe.”

“You’re the only one who’s ever wanted that.”

“What about Mom?” Tony pulled up a stool next to you.

“Not as much. You were her baby. I was the mutant dropped off at her doorstep, that Howard immediately shipped off to Xavier once my powers manifested.”

“She cared, really. Just Dad made that hard for her to show. And the team cares for your safety, too. Like Steve....”

You groaned. “Don’t start with that again.”

“What?” He asked innocently. “I happen to think you two would be cute together.”

“Yeah, I got that the first fifty times you hinted at me to ask him out. Look, no offence to Cap, but I personally don’t see the appeal. Yeah, he’s good looking, but there’s zero chemistry there.”

“You just need to give it a chance!”

“He’s better off with Sharon, even if that whole dynamic is weird.”

“What dynamic? You mean the ‘dating the niece of his dead girlfriend’ dynamic?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“Then let’s fix that for him!”

“No, Tony. Besides, you and I both know if I date anyone who isn’t a mutant, I’ll have to keep hiding my dirty little secret.” You shook your head at him. “When I’m ready to date again, I’ll let you know. And I’m 100% sure the person won’t be from the team.”

"If you say so, 'cuz." He gave you a one arm hug and left the building. You shook your head at him and went back to work.


	2. Serious Adults? Since When?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader and Tony hold a video game dancing contest in the compound until SHIELD and the CIA show up.

"You're up, ____!" Tony shouted from the bar.

"Who am I going up against?" You picked up one of the Wii remotes and began to thumb through the available songs.

"Me," Steve walked over and grabbed the other remote. "Though I still don't know how to play this game."

"It's easy. Just do what your avatar on the screen does as best as you can. We can do an easy song so you can get the idea."

"No helping the old man!" Tony chastised. 

"Bite me, Stark!" You helped get the remote around Steve's wrist. "How the hell do you not have your own version of this damn game? Like, one where you don't need joy sticks."

"Joy sticks?" Wanda asked.

"Way to show your age," Tony laughed.

You flipped off your cousin as you finally settled on a song for you and Steve to compete. It was a rare down time for the team, no missions for the last month. So you were celebrating by having a dance contest using a video game. The best parts were watching Steve and Bucky try to figure out the beat of modern songs and Steve blushing at some of the lyrics.

You easily beat Steve and Tony came up to take his spot. “Time for another bet!”

“Tony, no.”

“Tony, yes! It’s easy! If I get more stars than you, I get to set you up on a blind date.”

“And when I win, you’ll leave my damn love life alone.” You know damn well who Tony wanted to set you up with and you wanted to avoid all that awkwardness.

“Fine, but Nat picks the song.” He gloated at this.

You pretended to be mad, but secretly you had planned for this. You and Nat had practiced one song over and over, knowing Tony eventually would want to place a bet against you. God, that woman was always prepared. “Alright, fine."

The two of you shook hands as a group of people walked in. Nat instantly forgot what she was doing and dropped the remote.

“Oh my god! Phil?!”

You look behind you to see Nick Fury and Maria Hill had come into the room with two other people. The first was a gentleman about your height with salt and pepper hair and dark blue eyes. You couldn’t help thinking he was really good looking, especially in his light grey suit.

The second was the one everyone was now flocking around. He was close to Fury’s height with short brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a black suit. You hadn’t met him before, but you hear one of the Avengers say ‘Coulson’ and it triggers some story Tony told you of his early avenging days.

“I can’t believe you’re alive!” Nat practically shouts. “How?!”

“I’m afraid that’s classified.” The man smirks at Nat and she playfully slugs him. “I see you have some new members.”

Tony slapped the man on the back. “Phil, you’ve missed so much! This is Sam, Wanda, Vision, Peter, and Bucky. And this troublemaker is Dr. ____ ____.”

He raised his eyebrows as he shook your hand. “I’m Phil Coulson. So Stark has another scientist on board?”

“Ah, yes. I’ve heard of you.” You playfully shove your cousin. “I was brought on a few years back to add to Tony’s collection of scientists.”

“Hopefully not to build more murder bots.”

“Oh, hell no! I still don’t let him live that down.” You chuckled as Tony glared at you. “My focuses are in botany and human biology.”

“So, Nick. Why have you been hiding this secret from us? And why is the CIA here?” Tony casually picked his Wii remote back up.

“There’s an important issue that’s popped up. Agent Ross is here to outline what our team needs to focus on. Oh,” Fury turned to you and gestured towards the other man there. “____, this is Agent Everett Ross of the CIA. Agent Ross, this is _____.”

You take the agent’s out stretched hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Agent Ross.”

A wide smile broke out over his face. “The pleasure is all mine.”

You winked at the agent and walk back over to Tony.

Tony glared and broke into one of your secret languages. “Really? Flirting with a CIA agent? How crazy are you?”

“A: I’m not flirting. B: You’re just mad cause you want me to hook up with Cap for some strange reason.”

Coulson looked back and forth between you two, not understanding the dynamic going on. “So what happened to Pepper?”

“Nothing. She’s currently in London on a business trip. She’ll burst a vein when she finds out you’re alive.” Tony was trying to keep the game remote out of your reach. To the team this was normal sibling behavior.

“Swear to hell, Stark. Give me the remote! How am I supposed to beat you without it, stupid?! There's no bet if there's no game!” Tony was holding you at arms’s length by your shoulder. You both knew you could easily out power him, but he was using the other people in the room to his advantage.

“She still works here after you guys broke up?”

That stopped the bickering and you turned to face Coulson. “I’m sorry, what? Tony, you broke up with Pepper?”

“Not that I was aware of,” Tony looked at Coulson in confusion. “Do you know something I don’t?”

Coulson’s face began to turn red. “Oh, sorry. I just assumed with seeing how close you two are that she... that you were...”

Your jaw drops at this and a horrified look crosses your face. “You mean me and Tony?”

Tony busts out laughing while you step backwards into a chair at the bar to down a shot Nat had ready for you. “What’s the matter, my love?”

“Fuck off, Stark.” You growled. “Oh hell, there’s not enough liquor and therapy to undo that image.”

Fury was smirking. “To answer your question, Agent Coulson, _____ is Stark’s cousin who has lived with his family since she was 5.”

“Until I was shipped off to boarding school. Tony is practically my brother.” You downed another shot. “Well, that image will give me nightmares for a week. Let’s get this bet over with, Stark.”

“Look, whatever game you guys are about to play, it needs to end now. We need Stark in this meeting.” Fury walked over to you both.

“Sorry, I don’t do meetings on my days off. Feel free to give FRIDAY the highlights.” Tony continues to flip through the songs, ignoring Fury.

Agent Ross spoke up. “It’s in regards to the mutant community. The Secretary of State has some concerns.”

Tony looked at you then at Ross. “Why is he concerned about mutants all of the sudden?”

“He knows about the omega-level ones and is concerned for the world’s safety.”

Your eyebrows went up. “He’s just NOW hearing about omega-level? What cave has he been living in?”

Fury ignored you. “Secretary Ross is on his way here. We need to meet. Now.”

Tony looked at you and quickly uttered in another language. “Call Charles.”

You give one quick nod and rush out of the room, hoping you beat the Secretary of State.


	3. The Mutant 'Threat'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader finds out the government has bad ideas in regards of what to do about the growing mutant community.

"So, Charles isn't coming at all?" Natasha took the seat next to you as you pulled up the conference room on all the screens in Tony's office.

"He said I should find out what the government wants first before he makes an unscheduled visit." You were typing away to make sure every possible angle of the room was covered. Behind you, Clint, Sam, Bruce, and Bucky gathered with Nat to watch what was unfolding. You had Vision and Wanda keep Peter distracted as you had felt he was too young for this conversation.

"Let's hope that delay doesn't bite them in the ass." 

All of you watched as Tony, Rhodey, Steve, Fury, Hill, Coulson, and Agent Ross found seats around the conference table. Shortly after they had set up, Secretary Ross came barging in like he owned the place. You had heard Tony bitch about the man a few times too many, but it wasn't until you finally laid eyes on him that you could see that his whining was justified. This man looked like he was ready to steam roll over anyone he believed was in the country's way, whether they truly were or not.

"Well, Stark. So glad you were able to find time in your busy schedule to talk about this very important subject." Secretary Ross didn't even bother to sit down.

"It's actually not... an important issue... at least as far as we're concerned."

"How is this not a concern to you?"

"Well, last I checked we were the Avengers, not the X-Men. How exactly do you expect us to go up against mutants that have no power limits?"

"You seem to know an awful lot about the subject at hand."

"Google is a wondrous tool, you should try it some time. Though I personally use FRIDAY; she's a little more thorough." You couldn't help but chuckle at the dismissive way Tony was treating Ross. "Actually, the truth of the matter is that I've made friends with Charles Xavier. He has a few omegas on his team, so if there was ever a person you should be talking to about this, it would be that man."

"I'm well aware of those omegas and we are currently keeping track of them, especially Dr Grey."

Steve spoke up then. "Can someone please explain to me what an omega is? I feel like I'm missing something."

Agent Ross answered him. "Omega is a level of mutant power. The highest there is without having immortality. There are less than two dozen omegas that are known and a majority of them have powers that pertain to telepathy and telekinesis."

"Most of the time, not always," Tony interrupted. "The mutants on the omega list just don't have a limit to the powers they do have, like Iceman. They can use their powers at the molecular level. It's really fascinating."

"Fascinating? It's fascinating that there is a mutant out there that could freeze every drop of water in your body at will?" Secretary Ross moved to tower over Tony.

"Actually, yes. It is. Imagine how much Xavier saves on cooling for that giant school of his."

"Stark, these mutants are a real threat."

"No, they're not. Not even close. And trust me, if anyone is ever paranoid about an impending threat, it's me." Tony stood up to get in the secretary's face. "What do you plan to do about this? From what Charles tells me, 90% of those two dozen omegas already fight for the side of humanity. And the ones that don't, what do you plan to do? Throw a bomb at them? All you'll do is piss them off. Face it, Ross, you are grossly unprepared to be this uppity about a 'mutant threat'. This will end up like the alien invasion all over again. Stop poking the wasp's nest."

"Where is your cousin?"

Your blood ran cold at this question. He couldn't possibly know about you, could he? All eyes in the office were on your frozen form.

"Why do you need her? I can answer your questions just as sarcastically."

"Because while she was earning her PhD in human biology, she took courses taught by Dr Hank McCoy about the ins and outs of the X-Gene. I believe we need someone here who will actually take this threat seriously."

"What threat? There is no threat. Has a mutant personally attacked you? No? Then why are we discussing this?"

"Are we just supposed to wait for them to strike first?"

You began to violently shake your head. "I can't sit by while this idiot goads Tony. I'll be right back."

Before anyone could say anything, you bolted out of the room and down the halls. With no one around, you kicked up your speed and was at the conference room in moments. You took a few breaths to calm yourself down before opening the door. Tony and Secretary Ross were still arguing when you waltzed in.

"I believe you rang for me, Secretary." 

"Nope. You are definitely not needed here." Tony went to shove you out of the room, but you stayed planted in place. He pleaded at you with his eyes, but you gave him a small smile and kissed his forehead.

"It'll be okay," you assured him in Dothraki, before speaking to the secretary in english. "Did my ears deceive me or are you really stupid enough to pick a fight with omega-level mutants?"

Secretary Ross tried the tactic of towering over you to intimidate you, but you just cocked at eyebrow at his ridiculous stance.

"Miss. _____ -" He started.

"Dr."

"What?"

"It's Dr. ______. I didn't go into thousands of dollars of debt to be referred to as Miss. Hell, if my PhDs aren't enough, I do have my medical license as well, so throw me some sort of a bone for fuck sake."

"Dr. ____, if you're quite done-"

"Hey, all I wanted was brand recognition." Behind Secretary Ross, Fury was smirking and Hill was pressing her lips together. Tony, however, was full on chuckling.

"WE HAVE IMPORTANT MATTERS AT HAND!"

"Slow your roll, dude. I'm right here, no need to shout." You moved to take the seat in between Steve and Agent Ross, who tried to give you a stern look but you could see the entertainment in his eyes. "And as my cousin mentioned, we don't have important matters at hand. Not unless some important political figure was kidnapped by a mutant."

Tony quickly asked FRIDAY, eyes gleaming as he confirmed, "Nope!"

"Well then, what the actual fuck? You're the Secretary of State; you literally have a laundry list of things to do and you're here crying about mutants? Isn't your main concern supposed to be foreign policies?"

"We need to get these mutants on a registry so that we can know their movements at any given time." You chuckled at that and his face grew dark.

"Oh, wait, you're serious. Let me laugh harder." His face grew dark red as you roared with laughter. "You're the kind of person that goes to the zoo and pokes a tiger with a short stick, aren't you? For the majority of the community, the mutants are on our side. If you go all nazi on them and demand they be registered... well, honestly, it probably would be easier for you to just go home and use your gun on yourself at that point. It would save you time and pain." 

"Are you threatening me, Dr. _____?"

"How could I? I'm not a part of the mutant community. But I know people and if you come at them with some irrational fear because you're some old curmudgeon who hates change and people being superior to you, then just know it will come back to bite you in the ass. And Stark and I will be at your funeral to point and laugh."

"But we promise a bitching eulogy."

"Says you, Stark." Now Coulson had joined Hill and Fury on fighting back the laughter. "I don't know why you can never learn from your mistakes, Secretary Ross."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Figure it out, tiger bait. You created the Hulk and then your genius idea to fix it was to create an even bigger monster, almost getting your daughter killed. You tried to control a group of super heroes with just awful results. You tried to court marshall one of the Avengers-" you point at Rhodey, who had decided to remain silent during the meeting. "-IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ALIEN ATTACK. Honestly, you needed perspective that day. And now you're trying to pick a fight with a group of people, with the majority of them capable of literally just thinking you out of existence. How in the actual hell did you become Secretary of State? Was you opponent a literal bag of dirt?"

Secretary Ross had gone purple with anger as Tony, Rhodey, and Steve busted out laughing. Meanwhile, Coulson had to excuse himself while Hill ducked her head down and Fury's shoulders shook with contained laughter. Only Agent Ross maintained his composure and even that was holding on by a thread. 

"I will not be spoken to in such a manner! I am the Secretary of State!"

"Hey, Tony, where do we keep the fucks to give? I think he needs one."

Tony was laughing too hard to properly answer you. Secretary Ross stormed over to the table and leaned in. "You will regret this."

"I already do. I was forced to meet you. Can you make my day better and leave already? Try not to piss off any mutants on your way home, ok?"

Without another word, Secretary Ross stormed out of the room. As if a great weight was lifted, everyone in the room that wasn't already laughing busted out.

Fury was the first one to collect himself. "You know he ain't gonna just leave it at that."

"Well, I would be worried if he was actually a master tactician. Since he can't even make a super hero without fucking up, I'm not really that concerned." You stretched in your chair, bathing in the glow of your verbal take down. Fury was right, but you didn't have to think about the revenge just yet.

"Man, I could really go for some chinese food now."

"Oh, Tony, you read my mind! FRIDAY, place our usual order with that restaurant we always order from. Double the order just in case our other guests wish to stay." FRIDAY acknowledged your request as the group filed out of the conference room.

Agent Ross fell into step with you as you lead the group down the hall and into the main living area. "You know, while the Secretary of State is my boss, it was very entertaining watching you put him in his place."

"That man needed some perspective. It was like watching a real life Don Quixote running full tilt at a windmill. Thank you, Agent Ross, for not taking his side."

"Well, I don't personally have a death wish. Especially after I came close to dying on a mission a few years back. Makes you reconsidering everything. And please, call me Everett, Dr. ____."

"As long as you call me _____."

"Done." He smiled and you felt warmth in your cheeks. "And if you were sincere on your offer, I'd like to stay for dinner."

You smiled shyly and quickly turned it into a smirk as you loop your arm through his. "If you can handle eating around our crazy group, you are more than welcomed to stay."

Tony pushed past you on the other side, growling in Klingon along the way. "Fucking crazy to flirt with a government agent."

He was right, of course. Flirting with Everett would only lead to trouble and possible discovery. But you couldn't help it; he had a pull to him you just couldn't explain. Maybe it was his good looks, maybe it was how he refused to be as recklessly blind as his boss, maybe it was something else. But God help you, you wanted to find out what it was.


	4. Remain Hidden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader speaks to Charles Xavier about whether or not to keep her secret.

"So, how do you want me to do it? Decapitation? A sword to the stomach? Finger guns?"

"Wade, honestly? Why are you like this?" You watched the merc with a mouth hold up a large poster board that had crayon drawings of several ways to 'deal' with Secretary Ross. All of them on the overkill side of problem solving.

"I'm just trying to be helpful. If this man is stalking mutants, we need to put him in his place."

"By killing him? A bit excessive if you ask me. The man's annoying, but he'll either learn or get run over by the bus while crossing that war highway he has his sights set on."

"Which bus?" Wade walked over from the fridge in the mansion's kitchen.

"The bus of 'don't fuck with mutants'. You know, the common sense one." You took a beer out of his hand as he sat down at the table with you. "Anyway, you technically don't have anything to worry about. You're not an omega."

"I could be an external!"

"Not even remotely close, dipshit. Being immune to death does not put you above an omega. Just ask Logan." You took a swig of the beer. "I know Ororo, Jean, and Bobby will be just fine, but it can't hurt to talk to Charles about all this."

"What about you?"

"Welp, considering the only people who know I'm a mutant are most of the people at this school and Tony, and those of them who know I'm an omega is even less, I just gotta keep my nose clean until this is all over."

"But do you want to? Why even hide? I never understood that." He leaned over to look in your eyes and for the first time ever, you could tell he was serious.

"No, I really don't want to hide my entire life. There's so much good I could do for the earth and for people. But Howard ingrained it in my head that I would never be accepted by society, cementing that by shipping me off here, keeping me out of SHIELD's records, and never acknowledging me publicly. And Tony may accept me publicly as a cousin, but he doesn't want me to come out of the proverbial mutant closet either. Just once in my life I'd like to be myself 24/7, and not just when I'm alone in my room or the greenhouse."

"Then stop hiding! Go on and be your badass self!"

"It's not that easy, Wade." You both turned to watch Professor Charles Xavier roll into the kitchen. "____ has a very complicated situation at hand. Which is not being made any better with your recurring visitor."

You bowed your head and blushed, causing Wade's eyes to widen. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's all this about? You got a man?"

"No, I didn't get a man. We've just been getting-" you cleared your throat, "regular visits from the CIA."

"Uh huh, 'visits'." Wade winked at you.

"It's not like that!"

"Nor should it get that way if you're going to maintain your secret." You couldn't look Charles in the eyes. You knew he could see in your head how much you enjoyed each time Everett visited the compound, even if the visits weren't to see you. "Wade, I need you to leave us."

"No way! This is better than any soap opera!" Charles faced Wade, and the merc suddenly stood up and very slowly walked towards the door.

"Cheater." You smirked at your former teacher.

"I figured it was less messy than involving Piotr or Nathan."

"Good call. Look, I know I'm dancing a dangerous line with the whole CIA agent thing, but in all honesty I don't think he sees me that way. He only comes by to speak to Tony or Rhodey."

"Oh, it absolutely is about you." He gave you a teasing smile. "You've mentioned to me the information he brings over. The type of information that could easily be sent in an email and avoid the long drive."

You closed your eyes and shook your head. "No, you and Tony are right. This has disaster written all over it. Especially since his boss is still dead set on hunting down omega mutants. I mean, how could that even work?"

"It could, but you would need to be completely honest with Everett. And frankly, that may be the way to go regardless of whether or not you end up on a date with him. We must show the world we are not a threat. And to do that-"

"We need to come out of hiding and trust them." You finished. "Tony won't like that."

"It's not up to him, it's up to you. _____, you cannot hide forever. One day something will happen and you will act on instinct, exposing yourself. And then all the trust you've earned with everyone else will be lost."

You sighed and nodded your head. "I know, I know. Let me warn Tony first and then... I'll make my big reveal."

"He may try to stop you."

"Maybe, but I doubt it. Most likely he'll go into big brother mode." You stood up to leave. "I know I need to do this, but I'm scared shitless. I've hidden who I am for over two decades."

"I would like to say everything will be alright, but we know from our pasts that that is never the case."

"Ain't that the damn truth, otherwise I'd still have my parents," you put your hand on Charles' shoulder. "Thank you, Professor. If you'll excuse me, I have a hard night ahead of me."

Back at the compound, you walked around looking for Tony as you chewed on one of your thumb nails. The compound was too quiet and you couldn't help but wonder where everyone went.

"Hello?"

You turned around to see Everett coming around a corner. "Hey, Everett. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was looking for Stark but it seems he isn't here." The closer he came to you, the hotter your face felt.

You turned your head slightly to the ceiling, "FRIDAY, can you tell me where the team is?"

"Mr. Stark and Mr. Rhodes have taken Captain Rogers, Mr. Wilson, and Sergeant Barnes to a baseball game in town. They will return in the morning. The remainder of the team is in the recreational room watching movies."

"Thanks, FRIDAY." You turn to look at Everett, "Sorry my cousin bailed, though I am amazed he's at a ball game. He must have lost the popular vote in that one."

"That's alright. This information can wait, even if my boss doesn't think so." He cleared his throat and continued, "if you don't have a lot of work to do or any plans, I was going to grab a bite to eat at this great place near by. Well, as nearby as you can get."

You let out a nervous laugh, "Yeah. That sounds great!"

After an awkward car ride, you found yourself sitting across from Everett in a really nice, family-owned Italian restaurant. The two of you had never been alone before and you were at a loss for what to say. So you went the safe route.

“Thanks for inviting me out. I probably would have spent my night in the green house.”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure. I’ve wanted to talk to you more, but I always end up in a meeting with Stark.”

“You poor thing.” You share a quick laugh. “I’m almost positive he’s bored out of his mind right now.”

“Not as much as he would be during our meeting. He keeps insisting mutants aren’t a threat, and while I agree, I have no choice but to come here and bore both of us.”

“Why? Certainly Ross has to see this is going no where and fast.”

“He feels we’ll eventually wear him down.”

“And in the meantime he’s put you on babysitting duty. Not very dignified for a CIA agent.”

“No, but what else can I do?”

“Hang out with me instead?” You had no idea where the sudden confidence came from, but you ran with it. “That way you’re still at the compound, but you’ll save you and Tony a headache. But mostly you.”

He smiled shyly at you. “That sounds like a great idea.”

The night went smoother after that and you began to open up more, talking about your parents (as much as you could remember) and what it had been like living with the Starks. You had him laughing over childhood stories as he drove you back to the compound.

“Must have been hard living under Tony’s shadow.” He was walking you to the compound front doors despite it being five feet from his car.

“Well, I went to a boarding school starting at 12 so I didn’t have to worry about Howard’s disapproval too much.” 

“What was that like?” He moved so he was a few inches from you.

“Not bad, actually. I made a lot of friends and learned a great deal. There were a few kids like me so i felt like I could fit in.”

He grinned at you and it was so infectious, you instantly returned it. “Thank you for coming out with me tonight. I better head back. I have to meet with Secretary Ross in the morning.”

“Goodnight, Everett. Hope to see you again soon.” You watched him walk back to his car before heading inside to go to bed.


	5. Iron Wills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Reader have a heart to heart about coming out as a mutant. Reader surprises the team.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I think I had something crazy stuck in my ears."

"Stark, don't be like that. It wasn't anything too crazy, just dinner."

"WITH. A. CIA. AGENT!" His voice kept rising to dangerous levels. "Have you lost your mind?! What do you think will happen once he finds out about you?!"

"I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"WHAT?!"

"My dear... sweet zombie.... would you please bring your voice down a few dozen notches? If you crack this ceiling, they'll never find your body." You had decided to be upfront with Tony the following day and tell him you went to dinner with Everett. It, of course, went over as well as you expected. And it was only going to get worse, as you were about to discuss how you no longer wanted to hide.

He walked over from the row of flowers he was admiring to stand directly in front of your desk. "Please tell me you're not going to do what I think you're going to do?"

"Honestly, I can never tell what you're thinking. You're usually doing it a mile a minute and you can barely finish a sentence anyway. Plus, I'm not Charles, so it's not like I can just pull it straight from your head."

"You're telling me you're planning on telling a CIA agent that you're a mutant. An omega-level mutant."

"No, I plan to tell Everett Ross I'm a mutant. Him being CIA is just secondary to the whole situation." You had refused to look at him as you struggled to make two plant cells bond without your mutation. "And I plan to tell everyone else, starting with the team."

Tony ran his hands over his face. "I can't believe what I'm hearing! I thought Dad made it perfectly clear what could happened if you outed yourself."

"Don't you dare bring Howard into this conversation." You stormed away from your desk to stand in his face. "He may have seemed indifferent to you, but at least he actually loved you. I was just like his sister; a freak in his eyes!"

Tony stopped and looked at the pained expression in your eyes. "He... he didn't think you were a freak."

"Yes, he did. I overheard him telling Maria when they thought I was in bed. He said it was disappointing that I had the Stark's intelligence, but his sister's freakish genes." Your lower lip trembled at this, but you refused to cry at the memory. "I was 12 years old and it was the night before he shipped me off to Xavier's school. You were busy at M.I.T. so you have no idea what it was like. He just dropped me off after speaking with Charles and didn't even bother to explain to me where I was, or even just hug me goodbye. Charles and Logan pretty much became my substitute dads."

"Oh man, I'm so sorry, ____." He pulled you in for a tight hug and you struggled to bring your breathing under control. "It's okay, let it out."

"No, I refuse to cry over what he said about me. I'm better than that."

"You can't keep your emotions locked away." He released you and wiped away a single tear that had managed to escape. "Not like me, anyway."

"Why not? I keep my powers locked away." You turned away and walked back to your desk. "But no more. I'm calling in a meeting and telling the team. The sooner, the better. It's time I became an Avenger."

"And Agent Ross?"

You gave a small smile. "His name is Everett, Tony. I know you think you're cute when you do that. You're not. And I don't know when I'll tell him. I need to find the right time, to see what it is between us. He- he'll probably stop trusting me afterwards; as a CIA agent I can't imagine trust comes easily in regards to other people."

"You know, Cap would-"

"Finish that sentence and Pepper will have to blend all your food into smoothies for the rest of your life."

He held up his hand defensively and slowly backed away. "Just saying, some people -- who will remain unnamed -- would accept you no matter who you are."

"Please leave before I chuck a cactus at your head." You hefted one of your potted plants in your hand and Tony immediately booked it out of the green house. Sighing, you put the cactus back down and walked over to your microscope again.

As the day wore on, you were feeling more and more restless and needed to release your energy. You knew it was dangerous, but you had to stretch your powers. Leaving the green house, you walked over to the compound and climbed every floor until you reached the door for the roof. The air was still and there were only a few clouds in the sky. It was a start, and if you worked slowly, no one would be the wiser that a storm wasn't originally supposed to happen today.

You sat on a lawn chair you kept on the roof for these very nights. A breeze picked up while more clouds began to form, giving a chill to the air. You guided one to cover the sun when you heard the roof door open. "I'm really not in the mood for a lecture, Tony. Let me have this time to myself, to release this energy. Please."

"Energy release?"

You whirled around to see it was Steve that had walked out, not your cousin. "Oh, fuck," you muttered. "Uh, hey Steve. What's up?"

"What's this energy release you were talking about?" As he walked over, he took a look at the darkening sky. "We better head in. Looks like it's gonna storm at any minute."

"No, not anymore. Why are you up here?"

"I saw you walking towards the stairs and you seemed a little down, so I thought I'd come see if you'd want to talk to someone other than Tony for once." He sat next to you. "What do you mean it's not going to storm anymore?"

"Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck," you mumbled, then sighed. "Tony and I got into an argument. It started when I told him how I went to dinner with Agent Ross- er- Everett last night. And it went downhill from there as I told him I wanted to be a part of the team finally."

You could see the slight hurt in Steve's face. "You went to dinner with Agent Ross?"

"Well, yeah. I got back from the school wanting to talk to Tony, but you guys had already left. Everett was there to meet with Tony as well, so we decided to go out and grab a bite to eat since no one was around."

"So. You and Ross..." he looked down at his hands. So that's why Tony kept pushing you to talk to Steve more; the super soldier had a crush on you.

"Just went to dinner, nothing more. I would like to get to know him more, but once I join the team I don't know how keen he would be to dating an Avenger."

"Wait, join the team?" Steve looked up at you. "_____, you're a good fighter when you train with us and a brilliant scientist, but... I mean no offense, but those traits alone won't get you on the team."

"No, they wouldn't," you signed again. "But... I'm.... holy fuck why is this so hard to get out? I've wanted to say this all my life."

Steve reached over to take your hand. "Just start slowly, no need to rush."

You took a deep breath and blurted out, "I'm a mutant!"

His jaw dropped at this. "A... you're a..."

"A mutant. An omega-level mutant, to be precise."

Steve stood up and began to pace around the roof. You had only known him this past year as you had joined Stark's team shortly after the whole battle over the Accords, so you weren't sure what his reaction would be when you dropped the news. Currently, it looked like he would go into shock at any moment.

"Steve, breathe. Please, just breathe." You stood up and walked over to him, to help calm down. He instantly jumped at the sight of you close to him, so you stopped dead in your tracts. "Steve?"

He turned and could see the hurt in your eyes at his reaction. Steve immediately ran over and hugged you. "I'm so sorry, _____. I know I'm reacting badly. It's just a lot to take in."

You let out a small laugh. "Just wait until you see my powers."

"You don't-" he cleared his throat, "you don't read minds, do you?"

This time you let out a genuine laugh. "No. All of my mutations pertain to nature: weather, elements, flying. I also have enhanced abilities."

"So that's what you meant by it wouldn't storm anymore."

"Very good, Rogers!" He playfully shoved you and you pretended to dramatically fall on the lawn chair. "Oh! See that! Captain America pushes local woman! Oh what will the papers say?"

Laughing, he sat on the chair again and began to tickle you. Because he now knew your secret, you could play at his level and soon had his hands pinned to his sides. "Wow, super strength, too?"

"Yup! So now it won't be so easy to attack me like that!" He leaned as you spoke and you could see the change in his eyes, from friends to the hope of something more. Before he could get the wrong idea, you leaped up off the chair and watched as he fell onto his face on the seat. "Hmmm, we better get that checked out. Loss of balance? Hope your serum isn't wearing off."

Steve looked up to see you smirking at him, before you turned to face the clouds once more. You raised your hands up and the clouds began to clear, but you kept the breeze.

"C'mon, Cap. We better go tell the others." You helped pull him up from the chair and headed for the roof door.

As you descended the flights of stairs, Steve cleared his throat. "So, I was thinking.... if it isn't too weird..."

 _Oh no_ , you thought. _Please don't tell me he's going to ask me out. Not now._

"If you're not busy Friday, maybe we can catch a movie."

 _Ah, fuckity_. "Oh, uh maybe. I need to make sure Tony doesn't need me for anything first." _Why can't you just say no, like a damn adult? You're giving him hope._

You shook your head at your thoughts and tossed open the last door. The rest of the team was already gathered in the main area, Tony standing while everyone else sat.

"There you are! I was just thinking, we shouldn't do this." Tony began to walk over to you, speaking anything but English. "Were you the one causing all of those clouds?"

"Of course I was," you said, in English, startling Tony. "And it's too late. Cap already knows."

He threw his hands up. "I don't know why I even bother anymore."

"What does Steve know?" Nat asked.

“I’m a mutant.”

“Well, duh!”

Everyone did a double take. “I’m sorry, did you just say you knew I was a mutant this whole time?!”

“Well, yeah. I was trained by the KGB, so I pick up on a lot of subtle hints. Like the fact that you took several courses on the X-Gene in college, you won’t tell anyone what boarding school you went to, and you were way too interested in Secretary Ross’ obsession over mutants.”

“Why didn’t you tell any of us?!” Clint protested.

“You mean besides it wasn’t my place to do so?”

“Well, good. Now that we have the basics down..... you should also know I’m an omega.” All their jaws dropped as you went over your list of powers and why Steve was told first.

“I’m sorry,” Sam started, “Why they hell haven’t you been on the team this whole damn time?!”

“Howard ingrained in my head to hide or I would never be accepted.”

“Oh, honey! That could never be the case!” Wanda ran over and tackled you in a big hug.

“Thanks, Wanda! But now comes the hard part: what to do about the government."

"One step at a time, ____. First, let's properly train you to be an Avenger." Tony smiled at you.


	6. New Member

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader begins her training while trying to figure out how to maintain a personal life.

You circled around the training mat, trying to simultaneously keep your eyes on Steve and Bucky. Training was a little rough at first, as you only ever fully practiced against some of the mutants at the school, and you only went there once a month. But after the first week you found your rhythm and were able to go against both super soldiers at the same time, without your powers to help.

Bucky swung at you with his metal arm and you easily ducked out of the way. His fist collided with Steve's shield and you spun low to the ground, knocking them both off their feet. Before you could continue further, you all could hear clapping echoing through the gym. You turned around until you spotted Fury, Maria, and Coulson walking up to the training mat.

"Nicely done, ____. I guess all that training you did growing up at Xavier's mansion paid off."

You pursed your lips at the former director of SHIELD. "Y'know, it would have been nice if FRIDAY told me you guys were coming, since Stark can't apparently be bothered to do so."

"It wasn't your cousin who ratted you out, it was Natasha."

"I find that hard to believe. She wouldn't even tell the rest of the team."

"No, but she knew a lot of red tape was going to have to be bypassed to get you on the Accords without alerting the Secretary of State right away. And Coulson here is a red tape ninja."

You arch an eyebrow at the agent and then nodded your head. "Ok, fair point. So how long am I to train before I go on any missions?"

"Another month."

"So quickly?"

Nick fixed his eye at you. "You know just as damn well as I that when you were at Xavier's school he put you through all the training to be an X-Men in case you decided to stay there. You may be a little rusty, but you know what you're doing."

"Alright, then I'll get started on practicing my powers again."

"You may want to wait a little. Word has it Agent Ross is on his way over for his bi-weekly meeting with Stark."

Nodding your head, you turned to grab your water bottle. "Well, then I guess I'll go change and maybe hit up the greenhouse."

You quickly left the gym before Bucky or Steve had a chance to stop you. In your room, you showered and changed into a pair of leggings and a dress shirt that you cinched at the waist with a belt. You were barefoot as usual when you wandered around the compound or the greenhouse, saving shoes for when you went to the lab or off property. It had never made sense to the team why you always insisted on being barefooted, even in the middle of winter, until you explained your powers. You liked feeling that extra connection to the earth and you were never affected by the weather.

Walking quickly to the common room, you were excited to see Everett again. The last time he was here for a 'meeting' with Tony, you had brought him down to the lab to see the experiments you were working on to feed the planet. Tony was in the lab as well, so Everett didn't have to lie to the secretary. This time you were going to take him to your greenhouse.

Everett was already in the room, talking to both Steve and Tony, when you came strolling in. All three lifted their heads to look at you; Tony with annoyance mixed with worry, Steve with heart eyes, and Everett with genuine happiness. 

"Hey, boys, don't stop on account of me. Just passing through." You smiled at each of them as you walked by over to the kitchen to grab a drink. 

"Hi, ____," Everett started as he walked over to the kitchen island. "I was just going over with Stark and Rogers about how my constantly coming up here is wearing on their nerves and the government's budget."

"Well, don't expect help from me. We've already told the secretary no and we plan to stick by it. But by all means, keep coming by here. At least I have someone to help me bug Tony now." You smiled at Everett.

"Don't you have work to do?" Tony asked, clearly trying to hint at you to leave and without the agent.

"Actually, if you remember _____, I asked about maybe seeing a movie tonight?"

You looked over at Steve in confusion. "Today's Friday? Holy crap, I need to keep better track of these days. Sorry, Steve, I was going to go out to the greenhouse and log some data. Agent Ross, if you want to spare yourself a night of speaking to a wall," you look pointedly at Tony, "you're welcomed to join me."

“Actually, the agent and I should have our meetings, just so Secretary Ross doesn’t feel like he’s wasting resources.”

“Since when do you care about what he wastes? But if you’re gonna be so huffy about it, you and Steve can join us.”

“I can’t believe you want to waste another Friday night when you and Capsicle could be at a movie!” He cried in elvish.

You opened your mouth to argue some more, but you realized all this would serve is embarrassing Cap and Everett. So you went another route and responded in the same language. “Well, I’m sorry you feel that way, Tony. Tell you what: tonight I’ll do my work but from here on out we’ll make Fridays or Saturday team nights out. We’ll start tomorrow with everyone going to the movies.” You switched back to English. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I really should log my data.”

Giving a quick wave to the group, you walked out of the room and out of the compound. You were barely five feet from the door when you heard the footsteps of someone trying to catch up. Turning around, your greeting caught in your throat when you saw it was Steve, not Everett, that had followed you outside. You quickly turned back around so he couldn’t see your disappointment.

“Hey, _____. I was hoping I could still take you up on the offer to finally see your greenhouse?”

“Yeah, sure. Are Tony and Agent Ross joining us?”

“No. Tony said he was finally going to have a serious conversation with Ross.” You spun back around with a look of horror on your face. “Don’t worry, he would never rat you out to the CIA.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t think he would. Just Tony’s mouth can get him in big trouble.”

“Don’t I know it,” Steve chuckled.

As you pressed your palm to the scanner at the door, your cell in your pocket went off. You pulled it out to read the text, figuring it had to be Tony nagging again about Cap.

_Sorry to have to bail on you to have my meeting with Stark. He seemed really insistant for once. Probably thinks I’ll harrass you as well. But maybe on a night when you don’t have too much work we can get dinner again. -Everett_

You smiled at your phone and spoke quickly to Steve, “Go ahead and find a seat. I have to return this text from my friend.”

_Sounds great! Maybe in two days? Talk to you later._

_Perfect. See you then._

You put your phone back in your pocket and walked over to where Steve had pulled up a stool. He was looking at all the stages of plants you had lined up. With a slight wave of your hand, one of the flowers stretched out and brushed Steve’s cheek when he wasn’t looking.

He jumped, startled to see a flower seeming to follow the movements of his head. “Wow.”

“It’s not sentient, if that’s what you’re wondering. I’m making it do that.”

Steve looked over at you as you walked around to the other side of the flowers. “That’s amazing. What else can you do?”

“Pretty much anything that comes to my mind. Omegas are the level we are because our powers are seeded in the subconscious part of our minds. It’s a big part of why Secretary Ross is afraid of us. If I wanted to, I could drain the entire lake next to us and have every ounce of water float above our heads or cause a mountain to split in half.”

He was silent for a moment while he contemplated all that information. You watched him as he slowly reached out to touch the flower. He was good looking, you couldn’t deny that. And the beard he now had took away from that clean-cut boyscout look he used to have. It suited him better. You could see why Tony was pushing you towards Steve: he got what it was like to be different, he would understand your schedule, he was sweet, and he would want to protect you even though you didn’t need it.

You shook your head softly and grabbed your tablet. No, things would be easier if you kept your focus on only one guy.


	7. Earning Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader spends more and more time with Everett, much to Tony’s dismay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok readers, I began rambling like a mad woman so this chapter had to be split up into two. Sorry it took so long to come out!

“There is no way that actually happened!”

“I have the video! Jarvis was so kind as to download it to my phone during one of my visits to Tony’s home in Malibu before it was blown up. I had never laughed so hard in my life!” You couldn’t stop chuckling at the memory.

Everett stopped walking to face you. “Are you saying the great Tony Stark, Mr Iron Man himself, once flew face first into a concrete wall?!”

“Swear by all the gods! Though I will admit it was before he even had finished building MARK 2, so in his defense he still wasn’t used to flying.” You took a bite of your ice cream and kept walking.

“I got to admit, I would love to see that.” He fell back into step with you and took your free hand. "And who's Jarvis? I thought his A.I. was FRIDAY?"

“One day I’ll have to pull it up for you. I have a lot of his test footage. Like how DUM-E kept blasting him with the fire extinguisher even when he wasn’t on fire. And Jarvis was his A.I., until his programming was uploaded into Vision.”

“Ah, ok. But wait, isn’t DUM-E the robot in your greenhouse?”

“Yeah, Tony’s way of putting him in time-out. DUM-E dropped one too many of Bruce’s beakers. I use him to move bags of fertilizer around, which he can mostly do without dropping them.”

You continued to walk around the city as you told Everett more stories about Iron Man’s early days. For the past four months the two of you had managed to find ways to spend time together between his crazy CIA job and you now being an Avenger. Everett still didn’t know your secret and you had no idea how to break it to him.

“So what was it like living with Howard Stark?”

You frowned at this question. It always popped up once people found out who you were, but it never got easier to answer. “The man was not warm or affectionate at all. I’m still really baffled that Maria even married him.”

“Wasn’t he your blood uncle?” Concern was etched in Everett’s face and he wondered if he had opened up a can of worms.

“Yeah, but.... have you ever wondered why he never mentioned his sister? His extended family? It’s because my mom.... was a mutant.”

Everett’s eyes went wide at this. “A mutant?”

“Yeah. Not a high level one or anything. She could control animals. We had the most well behaved pets on the block, or at least that’s what Tony told me. But Howard hated it. The X-Gene is passed through the father and he despised the idea his father having dormant abilities.” You were so close to saying the words, but they remained stuck in your throat.

“And your father?”

“Just your everyday typical human. But he loved mom with all his heart, that I do remember.” You threw away the wrapper of your treat, but wouldn’t turn back to face Everett. “Sometimes I wonder if he would still be alive if he never married her.”

“What?! Why?”

“They were leaving on vacation when they were killed by the Brotherhood. It... it was eerily similar to how Howard and Marie died, except the product the Brotherhood wanted was my mom.” You took a deep breath and closed your eyes, "and I was with them when it happened. I was going to be dropped off with Howard and Maria while they were gone. The only reason I'm not dead as well is because the X-Men happened to be hunting the Brotherhood down at the time. It was Jean and Storm -- er, Ororo, who saved me. Two of the three omegas Secretary Ross is trying to monitor in the X Mansion."

"Were you scared?"

You opened your eyes and looked into his. "Oddly enough, I wasn't. Of course I was devastated at the loss of my parents, but I could see that the X-Men just wanted to protect me. And as for the Brotherhood, I never saw any of them so there was nothing to be afraid of at the time."

Everett pulled you close and put a hand on your cheek. You leaned into the touch and smiled softly. As you had gotten to know Everett, you had discovered this other side to him. Before you had only seen the agent: the man dedicated to his bureau and who wanted to do what was right for his country. He was sarcastic and wasn't easily impressed by the super heros you saw daily. There had been an edge to him, no doubt built from years of not being able to easily trust people due to his career choice. Being a mutant that had been hidden you're whole life, you completely understood the lack of readily available trust.

But over the past four months, between stolen moments in the compound and the covert nights out on the town, you had slowly chipped away at each other's walls. Everett had a sweeter side to him, a side that genuinely cared for his country and the welfare of the agents in his charge. He was funny beyond the sarcasm and was even a gentleman, which threw you for a loop. You had never had a guy try in any way to be a gentleman or romantic around you, so at first you were a bit awkward when he held the door for you or presented a single flower to you. It didn't take long, though, for the two of you to fall into a pattern of trust and comfort.

"____, you are a remarkable woman. You were 5 years old when you were caught in the middle of a mutant battle and you weren't even scared. I don't know many full grown adults that would have kept their cool." He took another step closer to you. "I know you have to head back soon so you won't turn into a pumpkin, but I've really enjoyed these nights out."

You laughed at the Cinderella joke. "Yeah, can't have Tony know I've been flirty with the enemy. I've really enjoyed these nights out as well and hopefully, once Secretary Stick-Up-His-Ass calms down, we can do this more openly."

"He's really not that bad, he just needs to realize he can't control everything."

You wrapped your right hand around his wrist as he continued to cradle your face, slowly stroking the back of his hand with your thumb. "That's an understatement."

He chuckled, "why are we talking about my boss?"

"Good question." You both leaned in to close the gap for your first kiss together. It was sweet, but barely lasted a few seconds before your phone started blowing up. "I'm going to murder my cousin."

“Just ignore him,” he mumbled against your lips.

You were planning to do just that, until your watch - programmed with FRIDAY - began to go off.

“Dr ____,” FRIDAY began, “Mr Stark requires your attention.”

You let out an exasperated sigh and frown down at the watch. “Isn’t that Pepper’s job?”

Tony’s voice came out next. “This isn’t some Targaryen-esque request! Where are you?!”

“First of all: ew. You really need to stop making jokes about Coulson’s misunderstanding. Second of all: out. It’s my night off!”

“From?”

“You.” Everett pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. “I’ll be back soon enough.”

“But that’s not soon enough!” You rolled your eyes.

“Stark, you big baby, what’s so important it can’t wait?”

“Cap and I were going to watch some movies and we wanted you to join us.”

You squinted at the watch. You had a pretty good idea what Tony was up to, so you called his bluff. “Well get started, I’ll be there in 30. And get the rest of the crew. We did miss team night last night thanks to you.”

“Hey, it was my anniversary!”

“Glad you at least remembered this time without FRIDAY's help. I’ll text the others and I will be home soon.”

There was silence on his end and you knew you had trapped him. Clearly he had planned to ‘disappear’ after the first movie so you would have been alone with Steve. If you couldn’t go public about Everett yet, you at least had to find a way to let Steve down gently.

“Tony?”

“Uh yeah, sure. I’ll find Bruce, also.”

“Alright, bye.” You smirked down at the watch and then spoke to the AI. “FRIDAY, text the Avengers and tell them team night is being held in the media room. And send one to Hawkeye saying this is what he misses out on by not living with us.”

Shortly after, your watch pinged and there was a voice message from Clint.

“Very funny, ____. But no way in hell I’m making my family live in that zoo. I’ll catch you guys on the next one.”

You turned back to Everett. “I guess I better get going or my cousin will keep calling and crying.”

"What was that whole squinting and smirking at your watch about?"

"Mainly because Tony can't see my face so I can plot without worrying about my expressions."

"Plot for what?"

"More like plot against what. Tony has been trying for the past year - well, since we fixed that whole snapture thing, really, so a year and a half?” You shook your head. “Anyway, he's been trying to fix me up with Steve and becoming less and less subtle about it."

"Oh," he was quiet as he reflected on that. "You know..." he cleared his throat, "if you prefer Captain America, I would completely understand."

You raised an eyebrow at him. "Prefer Steve over you? If I had that preference, would I be here tonight? If anything, I know for a fact I wouldn't have kissed you."

He shook his head and smiled shyly. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just having a hard time picturing someone choosing me over Rogers."

You smiled at him and put your arms around his neck. "When I first met Cap, I had already been at the compound for two years. I got there right after that whole fiasco with the Accords. And as a result of the team fighting, I had absolutely no romantic feelings towards Steve and that hasn’t changed. Now I really should get going before my cousin has a heart attack."

“Alright, but let me walk you to your car.” Once there, you shared a longer kiss goodnight before you headed back to the compound.


	8. Broken Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve lays his heart on the line and Reader brings up the past.

Once home, you wandered towards the media room, taking joy in hearing all the voices inside. Sure, you mostly did it to stop Tony, but you also missed hanging out with the gang outside of missions. Your nights now consisted of training, stretching your powers, nights in the greenhouse, and nights out with Everett.

“Stark, you really need to knock it off. It’s so damn obvious what you’re doing.” Nat scolded him.

“What’s wrong with thinking Rogers and ____ would be good together?”

“Nothing! But it’s not up to you! If Steve wants to ask her out, he will. And it’s not in your control how she answers. Although, and I’m sorry to say this Steve, I’m pretty sure she’d say no.”

“What? Why?” You could hear the painful confusion in Steve’s voice.

“Because I’m 99.9999% sure she’s seeing someone else.”

“She is not seeing someone else!” Tony angrily denied.

”And judging by your anger, you probably know who it might be.” Nat stated. “But that aside, you are being freaking obvious, Stark! Why else do you think she insisted on team night? About as stealth as an elephant in combat boots.”

“You know, I am right here.” All heads snapped to look at you in the entryway. “So please direct all questions and concerns to management.”

It was awkwardly quiet as you walked into the room and began to make a drink at the bar. Steve would only look at his hands while Tony glared at Natasha.

“Please don’t stop on my account. This is supposed to be team night! What should we watch?” You took a seat between Parker and Bruce, casually sipping your drink as if you hadn’t just walked in on a conversation about yourself.

“Well, Miss _____,” Vision spoke up, the only one you never teased for not calling you Dr. “I believe Wanda wanted to watch The Princess Bride. There had been no other votes since....”

“Since my cousin was too busy focusing on my love life.” You looked over your shoulder at Tony. “Yeah, I know. Story of my life and the curse of an older brother. But I am totally on board with that movie! Anyone else?”

Nat took my hint and went along. “I say The Godfather.”

“Oh damn, now I’m torn!”

“The original Star Wars trilogy!” Rhodey offered.

Half the room nodded in agreement.

“Well, it’s meant to be a marathon, so let’s do all of them!”

“I’m sorry, is no one going to address the elephant in the room?” Tony held up one hand to get our attention, as he waltzed over to the couch.

“Damn right no one is,” you glared at him. “You and I will discuss this later.”

Bucky and Sam started chanting. “Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”

“Let us know when this ‘talk’ happens so we can plan shell head’s funeral accordingly.” Nat smirked as Tony gulped.

You laughed at your friend. "I'll make sure FRIDAY announces it over the intercom. In the meantime, let's get this marathon started!"

Once the movies were over, Tony had been the first one to flee the room. Everyone else slowly trickled out but you remained to clean up the mess that was made, starting with the clutter at the coffee table.

“You know, Tony does mean well. Even if his execution is shit.”

Lifting your head from your task, you saw that Steve had stayed behind. “I know he does. It’s been his MO in regards to me my whole life. One of the few things he remained serious about. But sometimes he needs to remember that I’m not the five-year-old who lost her parents or the twelve-year-old who was tossed aside by his parents. I’m a grown woman capable of screwing up my own life.”

He chuckled at this and helped grab some of the cups left behind. "He can be a little intense when he tries to do what's right."

"He gets it from Howard."

"Really? Howard never struck me that way."

You walked over to the bar with a handful of cups and pursed your lips. "That's because you never really knew him. Not in the way that Tony and I did."

Steve nodded his head. "I suppose you're right. Did you ever call him Uncle Howard? I only ask because you rarely refer to him as such."

"No. For me to call him Uncle Howard he would first have to have acknowledge me as his niece, and there was a better chance of me being killed by lightning."

He smiled sadly at this and came closer to you. "So what were you doing today?"

"Wandering around the city, checking out an ice cream shop." You made a circle around the room, picking up trash along the way.

"Alone?"

"Uh, no. I had a friend join me." You avoided giving out any more information than that and you could see him frown out of the corner of your eye.

"Oh, ok. It just seems on your days off you head out to the town and I know some of us would like to spend more time with you. I know I would have been glad to have kept you company today."

"I know, Cap. I could have asked any of you guys to join me. And I love hanging out with the team, but this is a friend I don't get to see often and we wanted one-on-one time."

”Do we know this friend?”

You raised an eyebrow. “In a way.”

”You’re not going to talk about them, are you?”

”Nope.”

Steve stepped right into your path, making you look up. "____, I really want to talk to you about something. And it’s not about your secret friend."

You nod your head and walk back over to the bar to throw the trash away, Steve close behind. "Ok, Rogers. Let's have it."

He took a deep breath and grabbed your hand. "____, I would like to take you to dinner tomorrow night. As a date."

You let out a sigh as you shook your head. "I'm sorry, Steve. My answer is no."

Steve just pulled you closer to him when you tried to pull your hand away. "Can I ask why? I thought there was always something between us."

"There is, but not the thing you want."

He sighed and let go of your hand. "You're talking about what happened when the Accords came out. Look, I know it was a huge mess but all that was straightened out and amended." 

"Oh yeah, just a few clauses here and there, a new room for Bucky now that he's brainwash-free, a few sweet words and all is forgiven, isn't that right? But it's not like you were the one to clean up the mess that was left behind. Did Stark ever really tell you why I started working here? Pepper called me in tears because Tony was a wreck between you choosing Bucky over the team and Rhodey becoming paralyzed. He needed the only family he had left since you took his makeshift one. I left everything behind because my cousin, who's damn near my brother, needed me. He was the only family I had left. Now it's us and Pepper, and god bless that woman for all she had done for him over the years. I know Tony has forgiven you and Bucky, but I can't look at him sometimes and not see the emotional wreck I had to take care of."

Steve hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm really, really sorry about all that. I was trying to keep Bucky from being wrongly imprisoned. But you're right; I hurt a lot of people along the way. I ruined Sharon's job at the CIA, I withheld information from Tony, I started a war without all the information. Is there any way I can make it up to you?"

You leaned in, grabbed him by the shirt, and pulled him towards you so he was only a few inches away. "I get why Tony forgave you and Bucky. When Thanos came to earth, you guys had to get your shit together to properly fight him. But that doesn't change what happened or what my cousin went through. Promise me you will never hurt him again. Or I swear by the Earth, not even Bucky will be able to save you."

Releasing him, you returned to cleaning the room. Steve watched you for a few minutes before continuing to help. "Is there anything else I can do? To gain your trust?"

You let out an exasperated laugh and slowly turned to face him. "I trust you, Steve, or else I wouldn't go on any missions with you. But I know what you're really asking, and it will never happen. Your image was tainted the moment I saw how my cousin was barely keeping it together after he found out how his parents really died. Watched as he tried to bury himself in a new set of legs he built for Rhodey. Lost sleep as I prowled the compound hiding every ounce of liquor so he didn't drink himself into a coma. You are my teammate and my friend, but that whole event will always be there between us. I'm sorry."

"____," Steve began, "I- I can't leave it alone. I know I hurt you and Tony. That was never my intention. But, _____, I love you."

Closing your eyes, you took a few deep breaths. "I'm sorry, Rogers. I don't feel the same way."

And without a look back, you left the room.


	9. To The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader faces a dilemma in regards to using her powers when people are in danger and none of the government knows her secret yet.

The next morning you marched into the lab, fully intent on giving Tony a piece of your mind. Bursting through the doors, you began a string of cusses in Dothraki. Bruce immediately stood up and headed for the door.

"I'm going to make a coffee run. I'll be back in time if you need an alibi, ____."

Once Bruce left, Tony sighed and moved aside the screens he was working on. "This is about Cap, isn't it?"

"Good guess, Stark. Thanks to your meddling, Cap and I can't go on missions together for a while."

"Wait, what? All he was going to do was ask you out."

"Well spoiler alert, it wasn't that simple. After I politely turned him down, he fucking declared his love for me. Do you have any idea how awkward that was?! Not a crush, full on love."

"So? Why can't you love him back?!"

You walked over until you were directly in front of your cousin. "Take one fucking guess as to why."

He hung his head for a moment before looking at you and gesturing wildly with his hands. "You can't keep blaming him for what happened during the Accords. I was an asshole as well."

"Yeah, but you're family so you're my asshole. I don't keep blaming him for what happened, but I can't erase how I felt when I first met him. Or how my heart ripped in half when I saw you for the first time since the attack on New York. Rogers has been tainted by that and nothing will change it."

Tony looked you dead in the eye. "Are you dating Agent Ross?"

You paused and looked around confused, gesturing with your hands. “Were we not just talking about Cap?"

“We were, but it just dawned on me how we rarely see you on your day off. In fact it was a thing Cap was complaining about last night before you came home. You leave whenever you can and you never take anyone with you. Not even me.”

"Yeah, Cap brought that up with me last night as well. I wanna say great minds think alike, but...." You narrowed your eyes at Tony.

"Answer the question: are you seeing Ross?"

You sighed. No point in denying it now. “Sort of.”

"What do you mean 'sort of'? Sort of what?"

"Well it hasn't really been established what we are doing other than meeting up when our schedules allow it. But I do know this: there is something there. It wasn't easy at first. Trust doesn't readily flow for people like him or I, but it's there now and I want to see where it goes."

"What do you think will happen once you expose yourself?"

"I don't know, Tony. I hope he'll understand, but I won't be upset if he doesn't. It will be a lot to take in."

"Well you better start preparing. Fury wants you on an actual mission now, not the practice runs you’ve been doing. Which means we're heading to DC today."

"Wait, what? Already? I haven't even had a chance to prep. Or tell Everett who I am. Why would you guys do this to me?"

"We need you on real missions, ____. We can't keep delaying this. You should have thought about this last night while you were out with your secret lover." 

You shoved a hand at his chest and he flew back into a lab table, which was luckily empty. "Listen Stark, if there is anyone in this godforsaken facility who can't say shit about my love life, it's you. I've heard the stories from Pepper and I saw it first hand myself as a teen so don't fucking start."

He rubbed at the spot on his chest where you struck, no doubt thinking of the bruise that was beginning to form. "You're right, I'm sorry. I just- I just want to make sure you don't get hurt. Your my little sister more than my cousin. Hell, I practically raised you." You cocked an eyebrow at him. "Ok, with the nanny's help, but still. I just thought Steve would be a good guy for you."

"I know you did, Tony. But it's not up to you and you can't force feelings."

He nodded at this. "So back to what I was saying...."

You sighed, having already forgotten about the surprise meeting. "Who else will be there?"

"SHIELD, Secretary Ross, your boyfriend, the whole nine yards. Fury let them know we're announcing a new Avenger today."

"I wish he would have warned me so I could have been mentally prepared." You ran a hand through your hair and headed for the door. "Guess I'll go change. Meet you on the Quinjet."

After you changed into a suit similar to Tony’s (yours was black while his was blue and he had a tie), you, Tony, Rhodey, Nat, and Steve boarded the Quinjet and headed for DC. You paced the length of the jet during your short flight, which was getting on Tony’s nerves.

“It’ll be fine! You need to calm down!”

“Easy for you to say! You haven’t hidden who you are for all your life!”

Before he could argue his point, the Quinjet began to shudder. Everyone stopped and looked at Steve, who was flying.

“Steve?” You slowly walked to his seat.

“I have no idea what that was. But if I didn’t know any better, I would swear we were shot at.”

You immediately whirled to face the team. Tony’s face was pale. “I don’t have my nanotech with me. And none of the suits are on board. We were heading to a meeting!”

The Quinjet shook again and dropped five feet. “Someone is definitely shooting at us!”

“Everyone, find a seat!” You shoved Tony into the nearest seat and helped him buckle in while Nat and Rhodey took care of themselves. You raced back to the front of the jet.

“What about you?” Tony cried.

“Who do you think is going to save our asses?! Vision and Wanda aren’t here, remember?” You looked out the front windows to see if you could tell where the fire was coming from. “Steve, open the back door and close it once I leave.”

But Steve never got the chance to open the door before the Quinjet was hit again. Suddenly, the jet was dropping rapidly to the ground, causing you to stumble into the wall. Acting on instinct, your eyes began to glow with the excess amount of energy that was now flowing through your body. The wind picked up outside until a large pocket was underneath the Quinjet, slowing down your decent.

Your breathing began to pick up under the strain. Never had you used this much energy before and so quickly, despite it always being at your fingertips. The Quinjet hit the ground, only thudding slightly upon landing.

“Good job, kid.” Tony breathed as he struggled to undo his harnesses.

You tried to catch your breath as you used the manual override to open the hatch door. Everyone left the Quinjet, only to see what look like an army rolling up to the building of the CIA. “What the actual hell?”

“They look like robots.” Tony examined the army. Everyone immediately turned to look at him. “Ok, no! This wasn’t me!”

“No,” you were barely above a whisper. “This wasn’t Tony. Those are sentinels.”

“What?”

“Sentinels!” Your voice rose. “The whole program was supposedly scrapped, but Secretary Ross must have funded the entire thing. This is how he’s going to take care of the mutant problem.”

“What?!” Tony whirled to face you. “You mean those robots programmed to kill mutants?!”

“Yes!” Suddenly, one of the robots fired in your direction and the Quinjet was blown to pieces. You tossed up your hands to stop the fire from reaching your group. “Get inside!”

“Won’t they blow up the building?!” Steve called above the noise.

“Not if I don’t follow you!” You ripped off your shoes and ran in the opposite direction. Tony shouted after you, but you flicked your hand in their direction. A gust of wind blew your group towards the building’s door.

The sentinels focused their attention on you and lifted off the ground, flying off in your direction. You tried to fly off as well, but a blast from one of the sentinels hit you on the right side. You spiralled to the ground, rolling until you hit a tree. "Welp, so much for leading them somewhere else."

Meanwhile, Tony was on the phone trying to call the compound to get Wanda and Vision to fly over here to lend you a hand. Rhodey stayed with Tony while Steve and Nat raced up the stairs until they found the meeting room. All heads snapped up and Fury immediately bolted out of his seat at the sight of a disheveled Steve and Natasha, who clearly looked like they just escaped an explosion.

"What the hell is going on?" Fury questioned.

"Ask him!" Steve pointed at Secretary Ross as Nat dashed over to the man. "He had an army of sentinels waiting for us and they shot the Quinjet out of the sky. We were nearly killed!"

As Nat pinned the secretary against a wall, Everett spoke up. "Wait, why would you be shot out of the sky? The sentinels are programmed to hunt mutants only."

"You knew about this?" Nat growled in his direction.

"Yes. I've been trying to talk Secretary Ross out of this extreme measure, but he has refused to listen. But that still doesn't answer my question."

"Because they had a mutant on board." Secretary Ross stated calmly, despite having his face pressed into a wall and his arm bent at an awkward angle. "Didn't you, Captain Rogers? It's Stark's cousin, isn't it?"

Everett slowly stood up. "What?"

Steve took a deep breath before answering. "Yes. ____ is a mutant. An omega-level mutant. We were announcing her addition to the team today."

"Where is she now?" Everett walked over to Steve, who kept his eyes on the Secretary of State. "Where is she, Rogers?!"

"Outside fighting the sentinels until Tony can get back up from the compound. We didn't bring any weapons or suits with us as this was supposed to be a peaceful meeting."

Everett ran to the windows, eyes widening in horror as he watched you dodge fire blasts from the robots and use one to swing at the others as a weapon. Along with your shoes, you had now removed your jacket and blouse so you were fighting in slacks and a tank top. There were broken robots and smashed cars all around the parking lot, but still more were coming at you. Fury, Coulson, and Maria headed for the door while Natasha threw the secretary into a chair.

"Steve, you and Agent Ross see if you can't find a way to help ____. I'll keep an eye on this asshole." 

"You can't threaten me and expect to come out in one piece, Miss Romanov." The secretary smirked at her.

"Normally I would agree, but you personally funded an army of robots that almost killed the core members of the Avengers along with Tony Stark's cousin. This won't look good for you, either, since you've pretty much repeated your mistake from when the Hulk was created." 

Secretary Ross paled slightly at these words. Everett didn't hesitate to follow Steve out the door, using a radio to contact any agents in the building. At the stairwell, he paused before heading up as Steve was about to head down.

"Where are you going?"

"SHIELD has a jet on the roof that's fully armed, but the pilot is currently with Fury outside the building. I'm going to use it to shoot down any of the sentinels out there." Everett began to remove his tie as he ascended the stairwell.

Meanwhile, you were hiding behind one of the corners of the building, trying to catch your breath. Tips of hair at the end of your ponytail was singed, you had a cut across your cheek, and you were pretty sure a couple of your ribs were bruised, if not actually cracked. Omega-level mutant, and you were being pulled apart like cotton candy. Why couldn't super healing be a part of your arsenal? You were trying not to use the full extent of your powers this close to other people, but you were running out of options. The communicators were destroyed on the Quinjet before any of you could grab them, so you had no idea where any of your team members were or if anyone was trying to help you. As far as you knew, you were on your own.

"I swear by any gods listening, if I live through this I will personally drag Secretary Ross through the fires of Hell backwards, by his damn ankle. While he's face down." You muttered to yourself. You took one more deep breath, before sprinting around the corner back into the fight. 

Raising your hands, you shot a column of fire at one group of robots before spinning out of the way of a line of fire from another. Unfortunately, it was right at the feet of another sentinel that hit you across the face, causing you to fly into a concrete wall of the building. Your super human strength was preventing you from being killed out right, but it was only a matter of time before the robots succeeded in their mission.

You dropped to the ground and prepared to retaliate, but a jet flew over your head at that moment and shot down the robot that had taken aim at you. You didn't even question who could be inside, you were just grateful to finally have back up. The person in the jet gave you cover as you brought down more robots with a mixture of fire and wind.

You were making headway before one of the sentinels shots missed you and hit one of the jet's engine. Without thinking, you flew into the air and grabbed the nose of the falling plane. Your jaw dropped in shock to see it was Everett in the pilot's seat. Glancing over your shoulder quickly, you could see more sentinels heading in your direction. 

"Pull the ejection!" You shouted at him. He nodded and his seat left the plane. You dropped the jet and grabbed his chair from the base, being careful not to get tangled in the parachutes strings. "Thank you for trying to help, but we better get you out of here before you get killed."

"What about you?" After you singed off the parachute by the ropes, you carried his seat over to the covered entry of the CIA headquarters where members of SHIELD were gathered with Tony, Steve, and Rhodey.

"Well, I was trying to go easy on them to prevent any casualties, but I have a feeling if I don't do something now we'll all end up dead." You set the seat down and helped him get out of the harnesses. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about my powers sooner, Everett. I was going to do it the next time we saw each other, but this whole meeting was sprung on me at the last minute."

"Now's not really the time to talk about this." Tony shouted over the noise. "They're coming back!"

Turning around, you saw your cousin was correct. A cluster of sentinels was heading straight for the building. If you didn't do something quick, everyone was going to die trying to protect you.

Standing up, you removed your hair from the ponytail as you began to calmly walk towards the awaiting robots, your powers flowed freely through your body. You could hear Everett try to shout at you, but his voice was drowned out by the increasing winds. Soon you broke into a sprint, your eyes glowing as the winds picked up and lightning began to strike the ground. A few yards from the approaching sentinels, you leaped off the ground and began to spin. The higher you climbed, the faster you spun, creating a tornado around your body. At the peak, you dropped forward as if on an invisible roller coaster and headed straight for the enemy, lightning following your path of destruction. Everyone watched as your sideways tornado tore a path through the robots, flinging pieces in each direction as lightning struck the ones you didn't hit directly. 

After making a circle and destroying every last sentinel present, you stopped in mid-flight and the tornado disappeared from your form. You dropped to your feet and slowly walked back to the building, clear to everyone that you had taken quite a beating from the sentinels. Tony and Everett ran over to you as you limped up to the building, the others close behind. But neither made it to you in time before you blacked out from the damage you sustained. 


	10. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader wakes up to the after math of the battle in DC.

Sound was slowly fading in and out while light began to try to penetrate your lids. You had no idea how long you had been asleep, but you knew it didn’t feel long enough. There was a faint sensation of a tugging at your right side above your hip bone. And breathing was going to be a laborious event for a while.

Slowly, very slowly, the sounds around you began to form into the words of the people in the room. And soon after that they reached your brain and began to make sense.

“You have no right being in here, Ross! Your boss tried to kill her!”

“Back off, Rogers! I risked my life to help her out there while you sat around with your head up your ass!” You felt a squeeze of your left hand. “Yes, I’m hurt she held this secret from me, but that will be between her and I when she’s healthy enough. And clearly I had no idea ____ was a mutant or I would have called off the meeting.”

“Cap, I’m sorry but I have to side with Ross.” You heard Tony sigh. “I may not like that she chose him, but he proved himself last week. You have to let it go, Steve. Our fuck up changed how she viewed you.”

“You can’t just let her-”

“You guys really need to stop talking about me while I’m in the room.” At least, you think that’s what you uttered. You couldn’t feel your lips move so it was hard to say.

“____? Was that noise you?” Damn, guess you didn’t form the words correctly. Tony took your free hand and gave it a squeeze. “Kid, was that you?”

You mumbled again as your eyes struggled to open. When you did manage to pry them open, you let out a growl as the lights pierced your tired eyes. You heard Steve move and the room quickly dimmed. “Thanks.”

“Easy, _____. You’ve been in a medically induced coma for a week. Which wasn’t easy to accomplish. With your super strength, you need a higher dosage than normal so it’s been a fun trial and error.” You could hear Tony try to mask his worry as your vision struggled to return.

“How...” you tried to clear your throat and a cup of water was placed at your lips. “Thank you. How bad is it?”

“You took quite a beating. A couple broken ribs, cuts on your face, and a gash at your waist. We stopped the bleeding as much as possible until Dr Cho was available to set up the Cradle."

"So that's the tugging feeling." Your voice was a mess, low and scratchy as if you hadn't used it in a month.

"Yeah. She would have been here sooner, but you had been in a normal hospital first. Handcuffed to the bed." Your eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "I'll explain better when you're more coherent."

You slowly nodded and looked to your left, where Everett was sitting. Near-sighted vision was returning first and you could see he was holding your hand, worry etched all over his face. You smiled faintly. "You're here."

"Of course. You saved my life." He smiled tiredly at you.

"Well, you saved mine first." You gave a light squeeze of your hand. "Everett, I am so, so sorry. I kept trying to find ways to tell you, but I could never find the right words."

Everett nodded his head, still holding your hand. "I know, Tony explained to me the pressure you were put under by Howard. And I know it didn't help that my boss basically threatened your life. Well, actually attempted to take your life. We can talk about it more when you're stronger."

You finally looked around at your surroundings as more of your vision came back to you, the room beginning to look familiar. "Where am I?"

Dr Hank McCoy spoke up from the doorway, "the mansion. Tony felt it would be in your best interest if you recovered here under mine and Jean's care."

"Sorry, kid," Tony shrugged. "Healing a mutant is a little out of mine and Banner's fields of expertise."

Your eyes began to flutter again. Hank walked over and took your pulse. "Your vitals are getting stronger, but you should rest some more. Jean or I will always be nearby if you need anything."

"And I'll be here, also." Tony tugged at your other hand. Before you could respond, you had succumb to sleep once more.

Another week passed before you were able to actually keep your eyes open longer than five minutes. You blinked and looked around your room again, this time taking in all the details. Tony was slouched in a nearby chair, worry and exhaustion covering every inch of his face.

"He's been like that for a while. Refuses to leave your side." You turned your head to see Clint sitting on the edge of your bed. "Hey, plastic buddy! Was wondering if I was going to be the only one to use the Cradle."

You gave a tired smile and tried to sit up. "How long have I been out?"

"Well, the first time was a little over a week," Clint came over and helped you shift on the bed. "You had a pretty good gash on your side and you lost a lot of blood when you did your tornado trick. Might want to avoid doing that next time you're wounded. This last time you were out for a week and Nat had to practically tie Tony and Agent Ross down to chairs to keep them from wearing a pathway in the tile.”

“Everett hung around?” You hadn’t been sure if you had dreamed him holding your hand the first time you woke up.

Clint smirked at you. “Yeah, he took some time off from work to focus on the mess that happened in DC. Any time not spent cleaning that up, has been spent by your side.”

You blinked at this, the news not really setting in. “But.... like, isn’t he mad at me? I hid who I was.”

“He was at first. It was actually funny as hell. He would switch back and forth from being mad at you to being mad at Secretary Ross for almost killing you. None of us could tell what side he was on or whether he’d forgive you. Well, except for Carter and Stark.”

“Wait, Carter? Sharon Carter?”

“Yeah, she still has friends at the bureau and apparently they’ve kept her updated on how Ross had changed since meeting you. He’s still a sarcastic hardass at times, but he seemed happier than he had been in years. Once she heard he had been spending his spare time with you, and in secret, she knew he would end up forgiving you.”

Before you could question further, Steve walked into the room and broke out into a huge grin. "Hey sleepy! Was wondering when we'd get to see you awake."

"Hey, Rogers." You pointed at Tony. "What's with him? I thought he'd be the first to greet me. Not that I'm not happy to see both of you boys."

"Pepper's idea. He was close to a nervous breakdown, so she had Jean mix a couple of sleeping pills into his decaf. Before you judge, he had a gauntlet on this whole time and was trying to keep guard over you, threatening anyone who tried to get him to sleep."

"Caring moron." You muttered and tossed a stuff bear that was on the table by your bed. Tony only shifted before settling back to sleep. "I hope he was the one who gave me that bear."

"It was actually Parker." Clint laughed. 

"Well shit, now I feel bad. Kinda." Just then, Pepper peaked her head in the door, before dashing over to give you a careful hug.

"Oh my god, you're ok!" You wrapped your arms around her, feeling her shudder as she tried not to cry. "I'm sorry. You'd think I'd be used to this after marrying Tony."

"There's only so much being around that train wreck will prepare you for." You both laughed as she wiped her eyes. 

"I heard that," a sleepy reply came from the near by chair.

"Yeah, what are you gonna do about it? Fight me?"

"Yup. Just as soon as you can stand and I can keep my eyes open."

"Right. So a month from now." Tony's reply came in the form of a snore. "That didn't last long."

Pepper laughed and stepped back from the bed. "I'll let Hank and Jean know you're awake. Oh, Clint. Nat has been trying to reach you. Says you're a dead man for putting your phone on silent."

"Shit." Clint sprinted from the room.

You shook your head and tried to stretch your limbs, wincing as you tried to do so. "Mother fucker."

"Hey, language!" Steve joked.

"Listen, old man, I don't have the patience for your lip right now." Noticing a mirror next to the bed, you reached for it to make taking inventory of your facial wounds easier. "Holy shit!"

"Sorry, we should have warned you." Steve looked down at his hands.

You had remembered that you had a cut on your cheek from the fight, but what you hadn't known at the time is that it was longer than you thought. It ran from above your left eyebrow down to your jaw, leaving a pink line through the eyebrow and luckily missing your eye. Your right side was sporting a black eye - no doubt from when that sentinel back handed you into the wall - and you had a cut across your lips. "Welp, I look like a dumpster fire."

"Hank and Jean are unsure if you'll end up with that scar being permanent on your face or if it will fade away. They do know you are lucky that whatever cut you, didn't touch your eye."

"Tell me about it." You gingerly reached up and ran a finger down the line. "At least it will make for an interesting story."

Steve slowly walked over and sat at your hip on the bed. "I'm sorry this happened to you and we weren't able to help."

"So what ended up happening? Clearly I missed a lot while dodging for my life."

"SHIELD and the CIA scrambled to find a way to shut down the sentinels while you were fighting them, but only their creator had full control."

"Goddamn Trask."

"You know him?"

"Not personally, but I've heard stories from Charles and Logan. Please keep going."

“The team showed up moments after you passed out, luckily. Unluckily, rather, as clearly you needed them sooner, but Vision was there to safely carry you to the near by hospital.”

“Where apparently I ended up cuffed to a hospital bed.”

“Yeah, that’s a story for when you’re head is clearer. Just know you’re not being held on any charges.”

“That’s oddly comforting.”

He sighed and tilted his head back. "I failed you. I should have been out there fighting, but every time I tried one of those robots shot at us. And yet there was Ross, taking the obvious route."

"Steve, I'm not mad nor disappointed in anyone. No one saw this coming."

"I should have thought to find a jet."

"Please stop beating yourself up over this. It's over and if I'm lucky, the program will die a painful death. And if I'm very lucky, Secretary Ross will die a painful death at my hands." You shifted on the bed so you could pat him on the shoulder. “Besides, unless there were two jets there’s not much you could have done. Everett got to it first and it was shot down.”

Steve glanced over at you, noticing how you casually used the agent’s first name. "Are you... are you dating Agent Ross?

You sighed. "We had started to, but who knows now with my secret being exposed before I had a chance to-" closing your mouth, you shook your head. "No, that's not right. I had a chance to tell him. Four fucking months. But I could never find the right words, the right time, or the right way. I wanted to earn his trust so I wouldn't be some freak in his eyes or some ready made weapon for the government. I trusted him, but... you can trust someone with your very life, but when you tell people you have an active X-Gene, all their trust for you flies right out the window."

"I still trust you." Your head snapped up to see Everett in the door with a vase of flowers. "Steve, can we have the room?"

He looked like he wasn't going to move until your cousin stirred from his chair. "C'mon, Capsicle. Let's find out from Hank how much longer ____ needs to be here."

Tony walked over and put a hand on Steve's shoulder, gently guiding him from the bed and out the door. Everett walked over and placed the flowers on the table by your bed. He looked uncertain for a moment before finally settling on sitting on your bed like Rogers had. "Hey, _____."

"Hey, Everett. Thank you for the flowers. And for visiting while I was unconscious. How are you doing? Did you get hurt during the fight?"

He gave you a rueful smile, "a little whiplash when I ejected from the plane, but nothing else."

You couldn’t help but to laugh at him. “Well just send the medical bill to my cousin.”

He gently reached out to touch your face, first caressing your scar and then the cut on your lips.

“I know. I’m what the kids call a ‘hot mess’.”

“You truly are,” he chuckled before turning serious. “Though you look a lot better than the parking lot did.”

You grimaced at this. “How much trouble am I in for that?”

Everett looked at you in surprise. “Trouble? You’re not in trouble. You were defending yourself from an unlawful army.”

“Really? I pretty much destroyed government property.”

“True, but it was for the survival of you and everyone in that building.” Everett cupped your face and stroked your cheek and you leaned into the touch. “I was so ready to be mad at you for hiding who you were. But when you came close to dying.... I realized that this whole thing was a product of how Howard raised you. It will take time, but I want to work past it.”

You covered his hand with yours. “I would really like to try.”


	11. Learning Curve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader spends more time learning to control her mutation. Everett and Reader have a discussion on their possible future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, readers. Going to try to slap a bow on this in this chapter so I can FINALLY finish my series. I've been delaying it because I couldn't decide if I wanted to use X-Men Days of Future Past cannon or not. I may also have the attention span of a moth once I get new story ideas. Either answer is acceptable. And I know if I begin to write it now, this story will never be finished. Ugh.
> 
> Not gonna lie, this may feel a little rushed. Sorry!

Three more weeks passed before you were strong enough to walk around the X Mansion. Charles cleared a room for you on the first floor and you returned the favor by helping out in any way around the school. You had decided to remain there for now since it was easier to have your weekly check up with Hank or Jean that way. It was also easier to practice harnessing your omega-level powers when there were three others under the same roof.

"Alright, ____. Focus on those trees in front of you."

Each omega was taking their turn with you and today it was Jean's. When it came to the weather, you and Ororo went deep into the woods so not to disturb anyone. She was trying her best to teach you her trick of teleporting using lightning. Bobby helped you feel the power flow through your body on the molecular level. You clearly couldn't change your entire body like he could, but each time you reached out to every atom, you felt more connected to the planet around you. As for Jean, she went with you on the days you literally moved the Earth, just in case you moved it too far too fast. She could help bring everything under control in an instant. 

Without raising your hands, you focused on the set of trees in front of you until each one slowly uprooted from the ground and began to float in the air. You raised them high into the sky until you could no longer see them before bringing them back to be re-planted.

"Very good, ____! You're getting better at your control. Soon you won't even have to focus every ounce of attention on your task. It'll make missions that much easier."

"I hope so. I really don't want a repeat of D.C."

"Well, I don't think we'll have to worry about that. Rumor has it Dr Trask was arrested for treason and Thaddeus Ross is awaiting trial ever since he lost his job. And it looks like you won't have to face a trial at all thanks to those SHIELD agents getting you on the Accords before you were officially announced."

"Yeah, Coulson's a fucking red tape ninja." You muttered. 

Jean was quiet for a moment and you know she was trying her hardest not to listen to your thoughts. "____"

"Yes, Jean. I miss Everett. I've been trying my best not to think about him, but it's been really hard lately. Especially when I watch you and Scott together. If Everett and I want to give this a try, though, it's something I'll have to get use to. Though in all fairness, it's not like I'll have a bunch of free time as an Avenger." You reached out with your hand and the ground began to split in half. You stopped it short of you and Jean before mending the soil back together. "A mutant and a CIA agent. Could you name a weirder duo?"

"Wade and literally anyone?" You both laughed at that, knowing the merch's pension for trying to pair up with anyone that could put up with him.

You closed your eyes and the ground beneath your feet began to roll. Jean, caught off guard, used her telekinesis to float above the ground and watched the Earth move like waves. You stopped and then began to make the near by river run backwards, spin in place, and then lift out of the bank. "It feels so weird to use my powers so freely."

"I know, but soon it will feel like second nature. And there won't be anything that you won't be able to do if you put your mind to it."

You began to walk back to the mansion, gently touching bushes are you passed causing flowers to pop up. At the school, you watched as Cable chased Wade out of the mansion and down the expansive lawn. Smirking, you threw up a last minute ice wall that Wade immediately crashed into. 

"Holy fucksicles! What in the actual ass?!" Before the merc could continue, Cable grabbed him around the collar and hauled him back into the building.

Laughing, you melted the wall and followed the other two inside. You parted from Jean and used the elevators to reach the sublevels for your appointment with Hank. In the medical bay, you spotted the other mutant bent over a microscope. You quietly approached him and ran your fingers over his blue fur on his head.

Hank jumped and whirled to face you. "Oh God, ____. You damn near gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, but I couldn't resist. What are you looking at?"

"Blood samples of yours. If my calculations are correct-"

"And the almost always are."

"Then you should be fully healed by now. And I'm not all knowing."

"No, but you helped build Cerebro so take a few times to pat yourself on the back. I guess this means I can finally head back to the compound."

"Tony will be thrilled."

"I have to find a way to sneak in or he'll try to fit the entire state of New York into that building for a welcome home party." You sat on a stool next to Hank's desk. 

"He'll find a way, no matter what I have no doubt." Hank smiled at you as he began to clean up his equipment. "So I suspect we'll be seeing less of you?"

"For now. I need to get back into the routine of living at the compound and using my lab and greenhouse again."

"Not to mention, taking time to see a certain agent."

You rolled your eyes at him. "Is everyone going to talk about that? I realize this is a school, but I thought the teachers were above gossip."

Hank chuckled. "We all want to believe we are too mature for such conversations, but it is what makes us all human."

Smiling, you nodded your head. "Yeah, I guess so. Alright, Hank. Thanks for keeping me alive. I'll come back to visit as soon as possible. And please don't warn Tony. I wanna surprise him."

"My lips are sealed."

You borrowed one of Logan's bikes to get back to the compound, making sure to arrive close to sundown. Using one of the back doors, you quickly whispered to FRIDAY not to alert your presence. You snaked your way down the halls and stairways until you were outside the lab. Waiting until Bruce noticed you (because the last thing you needed was an unscheduled visit from the big guy), you quietly made your way into the lab until you were directly behind Tony.

“I’m telling you, Bruce, I don’t like how we don’t have an ETA for ____’s arrival. She should be home by now.”

“Like now?” You asked as you hit him with a gentle electrical current, making all his hair stand on end.

Bruce chuckled at Tony’s new look as you raced across the lab to stay out of his reach. “You brat! Get back here!”

“Hell no!” You dashed out of the lab and down the hall, shouting greetings to people as you ran by. Rounding a corner, you immediately collided with someone. You both toppled to the floor. "Ow! Holy fuck!"

"Hey, ____. Good to see you're back." Steve rubbed the spot on his chest where your head hit.

"Hey, Rogers. Sorry about that. I was trying to flee from Tony."

"What did you do?" He laughed as he helped you up.

"Nothing! Well, maybe I gave him a static shock so he now looks like he stuck his tongue in a toaster." Steve couldn't stopped laughing at the image as you guys walked into the common room. "So how have things been here?"

"Good, same as always. Bucky and Sam continuing their prank war on each other, Peter freaking Sam out every once in a while by walking into a room... on the ceiling. Tony driving everyone up the wall because he doesn't have you to annoy."

"Yeah, gotta admit, that was a nice little mini vacation."

"I resent that remark!" Tony called out as he walked into the room.

"No, you resemble that remark. Though I am glad you didn't burn down the compound while waiting for me to get home."

"Couldn't. Pepper would have had an aneurysm. Plus, this place needs to remain standing for your welcome home party!"

"Oh God, Stark! You just look for any reason to throw a party, don't you?"

"Hey! They are always for good reasons! Charity, defeat of the enemies-"

"Ungodly large wedding."

"Still my most impressive party to date!" Tony smirked proudly. "Until this one! Well, ok so we won't have visitors from space, but we can't have everything."

“Oh my god, Stark, no!”

“Too late! FRIDAY already sent out the invites the moment you stepped into the lab. People will be here Saturday night.”

“Fine!” You rolled your eyes. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just keep recovering. Pepper and I have all the arrangements under control." You just cocked an eyebrow at him. "Hey, I'm helping!"

"Mhmm. Sure. I better go find her." 

The rest of the week was a chaotic mess. Between checking on your greenhouse, setting up your section of the lab again, and helping Pepper set up your own welcome home party, you pretty much didn't have any free time. The night of the party, you were locked away in your room trying your damnedest to get your stubborn hair to stay in the updo you were trying to accomplish. 

"I should have just let the sentinels singe all my hair off. Would have been way easier to style short hair."

"You say that until you actually have it." Natasha spoke up from the door way of your bathroom. You weren't surprised she had broken in; you were more annoyed she waited so long.

"Can you please help? Disney princess I am not, so there won't be any birds or rodents lending me a hand."

"I'd pay to see that, honestly." Walking over, she took your hair out of your hands and began to help you finish getting ready. 

Once you were finally dressed, you walked to the common area with Nat and joined Wanda at the bar. The room was already packed and you were pretty sure only half of the guest list had arrived. Grabbing your drinks, the three of you found a table to perch at.

"This seems a bit much for a welcome home party." You grumbled. You always felt Tony's parties were too much and always had found ways to avoid them until now.

"Well, if I know Tony, it's also the 'Welcome to the Avengers' party that should have happened almost two months ago.” Nat took a sip. “Where’s your date?”

“Not sure. He may have had to work late. That trail of paperwork from D.C. will probably haunt him til the day he dies.”

“No, I made sure to have everything done so I could be here on time.” You whirled to find Everett standing behind you. “May I have this dance?”

“Sure, but I have to warn you I have no rhythm.”

“Neither do I.” He laughed as he lead you away.

Everett pulled you close on the dance floor and you felt comfort from being held. Six months ago you had met this CIA agent and while you had found him attractive, you always felt it could never happen because of who you are. Now you were in his arms and it felt so natural. He pulled you closer and your foreheads touched, no longer caring who could see now that your secret was out and you were an Avenger.

“So now that you don’t have to hide and my new boss doesn’t want you dead, what’s our next step?”

“Well, I think if we’re ready we make things official, giving Tony a heart attack. Our schedules will be fun to work around, but I think it can work.”

Everett smiled and then whispered into your ear. “That sounds great, but I meant tonight.”

You gave him a wicked grin. “Oh that? I think we hang around for a couple of hours until everyone is distracted.... then I can show you the wing where the Avengers sleep. It’s a bit of a walk as my room is in the back.”

“Good. I’d hate to disturb people.”

“These people are already disturbed,” you laughed before planting a quick kiss on his neck.

He let out a quiet moan. “Keep that up and I’ll never make the couple of hours wait time.”

“Don’t worry. For the first time in my life, I can relax and wait. I can save the teasing for later.”

“Hopefully not too much later.”

You just smiled at him as you danced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> For anyone curious, these are the people I will pair the reader with for any future writings:  
> Everett (of course, lol!)  
> Tony  
> Clint/Hawkeye  
> Thor  
> Loki  
> Maybe Phil Coulson again
> 
> If you have someone not on my list, ask me in the comments or find me on Tumblr. The user name is the same.


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